Solenoid mounting



1959 s. c. CHESSMAN ETAL 2,901,677

SOLENOID MOUNTING Filed Feb. 24, 1956 a INVENTORS a, SAMUEL c. CHESSMA/V KENNETH H. MEYER Arron/var United States Patent SOLENOID MOUNTING Samuel C. Chessman and Kenneth H. Meyer, Salem, Ohio, assignors to Hunt Valve Company, a corporation of Ohio Application February 24, 1956, Serial No. 567,489

12 Claims. (Cl. 317-195) Our invention relates to solenoid supports, particularly to resiliently mounted supports, and the principal object of our invention is to provide new and improved supports of this character.

Solenoids are commonly used devices for effecting rapid movement of relatively movable parts and ordinarily the solenoid is rigidly secured in position whereby its plunger is adapted to eifect operation of a movable mechanism.

However, because of the mass of the plunger, and the mass of the mechanism to be operated, a jarring condition is set up each time the solenoid is operated and such condition not only leads to an unduly early life of the solenoid but also afiects the operating conditions of the movable mechanism.

Our invention provides an inexpensive and efiicient resilient mounting for the solenoid which absorbs shock incident to solenoid operation and thus avoids the disadvantages inherent in solenoid mountings of the prior art.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application, there is shown, for purposes of illustration, an embodiment which our invention may assume, and in said drawing:

Figure 1 is a broken sectional view of a preferred embodiment of our invention,

Figure 2 is a separated perspective view of certain parts of the construction shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a separated side view, drawn to a reduced scale, of the core and plunger shown in Figure l.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed comprises a solenoid S of any suitable commercially available type. The type herein disclosed includes a U-shaped laminated core 10, a coil 11 for effecting magnetization of the core, and a laminated plunger 12 movable longitudinally within the legs of the core and having a head 14 which is attracted to the ends 15 of the core legs when the coil 11 is energized. An operating rod 16 is secured to the lower end of the plunger for movement therewith. An inverted U-shaped case 17 embraces the sides of the core and is connected thereto in any suitable manner, such as by means of nut and bolt connection (not shown).

The solenoid S may be mounted in operating relationship with any suitable movable mechanism and our invention provides a mounting for the solenoid which comprises resilient means for cushioning against shock caused by rapid movement of the plunger.

In the embodiment herein disclosed, the solenoid is illustrated for use in operating the plunger 18 of a pilot valve 19, the pilot valve in turn operating the plunger of a hydraulic control valve 20. The details of the pilot valve 19 and control valve 20 are of no importance to the present invention and therefore detailed illustration and explanation thereof has been omitted. As seen in Figure 1, the plunger 18 of the pilot valve 19 is urged upwardly (in the position of parts in the drawing) by means of a coil spring 21 to yieldably urge the plunger to one of its control positions.

The pilot valve is contained within a metallic casing 2,901,677 Patented Aug. 25, 1959 22 which is here shown as connected to the casing of the hydraulic control valve 20 in any suitable manner. A supporting surface 23 is provided by casing 22 and, in the present embodiment, this surface is generally plane.

The casing 22 is provided with a threaded aperture 23a to receive a screw plug 24a which acts as a guide for the plunger 18. Metal pegs or dowels 24 (here shown to be four in number) extend from the supporting surface 23 and are disposed about the aperture 23a. The pegs have their axes generally parallel to the axis of the aperture for a purpose later to appear. Each of the pegs is secured within an aperture 25 formed in the casing 22 and each aperture is counterbored to provide a well 26 opening to the supporting surface 23.

A bracket member 27 is secured to the bight of the core 10 in any suitable manner, such as by welding or the like, and is apertured at 28 to freely pass the operating rod 16 of the solenoid S. The bracket member is formed with oppositely extending legs 2929 which are downwardly off-set with respect to the central portion of the bracket member. Each bracket leg 29 is provided with a pair of apertures 30-30 which are spaced apart to freely receive corresponding pairs of pegs 2424.-

The solenoid S is preferably disposed within a housing H of any suitable configuration. Preferably, the housing comprises a main portion 301 which seats on the supporting surface 23 and is secured thereto by studs 31. A suitable seal 32 may be provided to exclude dust and other foreign matter from within the casing. A door 33 is provided for access to the interior of the housing H and preferably this door is removable from the main housing portion 301 without necessitating the removal of the latter from the casing 22. As herein disclosed, the door 33 is secured to the main housing portion 301 by means of a bolt connection 34 and a suitable seal 35 is interposed between facing surfaces of the door 33 and the housing portion 301.

A resilient means 36 is provided to urge the core 10, and its attached bracket member 27, toward the supporting surface 23, and an additional resilient means is provided to oppose the urging action of the means 36. Thus, the solenoid S is supported in cushioned relation against shock caused by movement of its' plunger 12.

In the presently disclosed embodiment the resilient menas 36 is in the form of a coil spring which is interposed between the inner top surface of the main housing portion H and the upper surface of the inverted U-shaped case 17 and its urging action tends to press the bracket feet 29 toward the supporting surface. The additional resilient means in the presently preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of O-rings 37, each formed of resilient material, such as rubber or a rubber-like compound. An O-ring 37 is disposed over each peg 24, is seated in the well 26 and is of sufficient thickness to space the underside of each leg 29 a suitable distance from the supporting surface. It has been found that in a great many cases, this spacing need only be several thousandths of an inch.

In operation, and referring to the construction shown in Figure 1, when the coil 11 of the solenoid S is ener-,

gized, the plunger 12 and its connected rod 16 tend to move downwardly in a rapid manner in accordance with usual solenoid operation. The inertia of plunger 12 and the opposition to movement of the pilot valve plunger 18 opposes this rapid movement and tends to move the reaches, or has reached, its downward position to-shift,

the pilot valve plunger 18, the coil spring 36 base tendency to rapidly urge the solenoid core and its connected mounting bracket 27 downwardly toward the supporting surface. However, any shock of this movement is absorbed by the O-rings 37. It will be noted that the pegs 24 permit upward movement of the bracket member 27 and yet prevent lateral displacement of the solenoid to avoid misalignment of parts.

Deenergization of the coil 11 will permit the plunger 12 to again return to its upper position shown in Figure 1 and the spring 21 causes such return movement of the plunger. Any shock caused by such return movement is absorbed by the O-rings 37 and coil spring 36. To prevent objectionable clacking of the plunger 12 as it returns to its upper position, a rubber bumper strip 38 may be secured to the under surface of the bight of the inverted U-shaped case 17 for engagement with the upper surface of the plunger 12.

It will be appreciated that the solenoid S may be easily assembled with and disassembled from the casing 22 by merely removing the cover 33. The coil spring 36 may be compressed, or removed, to permit removal of the solenoid S from the pegs 24. Thus maintenance and inspection of the solenoid are greatly facilitated.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have acomplished at least the principal object of our invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We claim:

1. For use with a movable mechanism including a rigid member providing a supporting surface, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a mounting plate rigidly connected to the core of said solenoid for supporting the latter from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, and resilient means interposed between said mounting plate and said supporting surface for cushioning said mounting plate against shock caused by movement of said plunger.

2. For use with a movable mechanism including a rigid member providing a supporting surface, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a rigid mounting member extending from one end of said solenoid for supporting the same from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, resilient means bearing against the opposite end of said solenoid for urging said mounting member in a direction toward said supporting surface, and additional resilient means interposed between said mounting member and said supporting surface.

3. For use with a movable mechanism including a rigid member providing a supporting surface, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a rigid mounting bracket rigidly connected to said core for securely supporting said solenoid from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, resilient means pressing said core and said mounting bracket in a direction toward said supporting surface, and additional resilient means interposed between said mounting bracket and said supporting surface.

4. For use with a movable mechanism, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a mounting member for supporting said solenoid in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, a slide connection between said mounting member and said mechanism permitting movement of said solenoid along the axis of movement of its plunger while restricting movement of said solenoid in a direction transverse to said axis, and resilient means for cushioning said mounting against shock caused by movement of said plunger in either direction.

5. For use with a movable mechanism including a rigid member providing a supporting surface, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a mounting bracket rigidly connected to said core for supporting said solenoid from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, interfitting means in part carried by said rigid member and in part carried by said mounting bracket for permitting movement of said solenoid along the axis of movement of its plunger while restricting movement of said solenoid in a direction transverse to said axis, resilient means for urging said mounting bracket in a direction toward said supporting surface, and additional resilient means interposed between said mounting bracket and said supporting surface.

6. For use with a movable mechanism including a rigid mem ber providing a supporting surface, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a mounting bracket connected to said core for supporting said solenoid from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the same, said mounting bracket having a pair of legs directed toward said supporting surface, each leg being apertured to receive a peg extending from said supporting surface along an axis generally parallel with the line of movement of said plunger, whereby said core and mounting bracket may move along the axis of movement of said plunger but are restricted in movement in a direction transverse to said axis, resilient means for pressing said bracket legs in a direction toward said supporting surface, and additional resilient means interposed between said bracket legs and said supporting surface.

7. In combination, a movable mechanism including a casing providing a supporting surface, the latter being apertured to provide movement for the mechanism operating member and having a plurality of pegs extending therefrom in spaced relation with respect to said aperture and generally parallel with the axis thereof, said supporting surface having a Well surrounding each of said pegs, a solenoid having a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a mounting bracket connected to said core for supporting said solenoid from said supporting surface in operable relation with said movable mechanism and to position said plunger in axial alignment with said mechanism operating member, said mounting bracket having a pair of legs directed toward said supporting surface, each leg being apertured to slidably receive a respective one of said pegs whereby said core and mounting bracket may move along the axis of movement of said plunger but are restricted in movement in a direction transverse to said axis, resilient means for pressing said bracket legs in a direction toward said supporting surface, and resilient O-rings disposed about each peg and seating in a respective well, said 0-rings providing a resilient cushion between said supporting surface and said bracket legs.

8. In combination, a movable mechanism including a casing providing a supporting surface, a housing extending from said supporting surface, a solenoid within said housing and including a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, means for mounting said solenoid in operable relation with said movable mechanism whereby said plunger is positioned to operate the Same, a coil spring interposed between said solenoid 5 and a wall surface of said housing for urging said solenoid and said mounting means in a direction toward said supporting surface, and resilient means between said mounting means and said supporting surface.

9. In combination, a rigid member providing a sup- 5 porting surface, a solenoid having one end directed toward said supporting surface, said solenoid including a core, a coil, and a plunger movable by energization of said coil, a first resilient means interposed between said supporting surface and said solenoid one end, and second resilient means pressing against the opposite end of said solenoid whereby said first resilient means is clamped between said solenoid one end and said supporting surface.

10. The construction according to claim 9 wherein guide members extend from said supporting surface and engage said solenoid to maintain it in predetermined alignment with the line of movement of its plunger.

11. The construction according to claim 9 wherein a removable cover member is provided for said solenoid and wherein said second resilient means is interposed between an interior surface of said cover member and said solenoid opposite end, whereby removal of said cover member withdraws the support for said second resilient means.

12. The construction according to claim 9 wherein said first resilient means is formed of rubber and said 10 second resilient means is a coil spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 2,782,282 Schrack Feb. 19, 1957 2,783,340 Davies et a1. Feb. 26, 1957 2,798,188 Matthias July 2., 1957 

